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#RedrockAgency – August 12, 2017
It's late on the 20th of November, and Vasquez has just recently returned from a day of wedding preparations with Cynthia's assistance. She hasn't been since greeting Jason on arrival and withdrawing to their room. Cynthia has settled into the rec room where an asajura game is playing.
Jason has spent most of the evening in the gym. Now finished with his routine, he steps through the rec room door. He's dressed in a pair of gym shoes, jogging pants and a white tanktop with a towel over his left shoulder. As he spots Cynthia, he absently reaches to adjust the towel to cover a bit more of his shoulder. Not that it does anything to hide his right shoulder. Still, it'll be a long time before he feels comfortable
leaving his prosthetics on display, so the action brings him a small amount of comfort. "Hey." he greets, his attention briefly pulled to the screen as he crosses the room towards the fridge. "Who's playing?" he asks as he grabs a beer for himself.
Cynthia glances over her shoulder from her spot in the couch. "Hey tin-man! Burn some power cells?" she says with a grin. The question causes her to glance back towards the screen and then give a shrug. "I dunno. Asari teams. I can't fucking pronounce that. 'Thalassissawhatever'..."
Jason gains an uncomfortable look at the unfortunate nickname Cynthia has gifted him, but he quickly hides it behind a lopsided smirk. "Something like that..." he says as he effortlessly pops the cap off his beer with his thumb and tosses it out. He grabs a second beer before moving back towards the couch and extends it towards Cynthia. "Where's Linda at?" he asks as he holds the beer out, "I thought you two were-... you know,
Cynthia seems entertained by Jason's bottle-opening skills, snickering as she grabs the beer. "Man, I wish my hands doubled as bottle-openers. Maybe I should upgrade..." The question causes her to furrow her eyebrows and look around. "Uh... I dunno. Guess she's still in your room?"
Jason gives a loud snort as his own gaze comes to rest on his hand. He gives a couple of shallow nods. "Yeah... Well, I can recommend you a good doctor." he jokes before taking a sip of his beer. "And I'm more than happy to provide a bit of advice on dealing with the relentless pain and the truckload of medication you'll need to start taking just to keep your body from forcefully rejecting them." he lists off, raising his arm to
open and close his hand for effect, "...Oh! And getting into shirts without ripping them! You have no idea how important that one becomes. But yeah! Fuck, you'll rip right through a bottlecap. Way better than just-..." he shrugs, "...carrying a bottle opener on you."
Cynthia turns her gaze down the neck of her beer bottle, an uncomfortable look crossing her face as she pretends to be far more interested in the contents than she is. "Shit Jace, sorry." she mutters, her gaze turning back to the screen rather than looking at him.
Jason sucks down another swig of his drink before passing Cynthia a wink as his lopsided grin returns. "I'm just fucking with you." he says with a snicker. Maybe not entirely true, but his intentions weren't to come down hard on Cynthia. He knows she didn't mean anything by it. Just a kneejerk reaction. "Should see me work a jar of olives. That's where the real value of these bad boys comes into play." he continues, giving a
Cynthia grin returns, although some of the unease lingers. It's nothing a swig of her beer won't fix, and a moment later she's raises her bottle in goodbye as Jason departs the room. "Uh-huh, you kids just keep it down."
Jason snickers as he starts towards the door. "No promises." he teases. His head is jerked back towards the screen as an asari nearly scores and he remains in place for a moment just watching the action. As things simmer down, he sighs and gives a shake of his head before exiting.
Cynthia rises partway out of her seat, gestucilating enough to almost spill some beer at the almost-score.
Jason takes a few steps down the hall before letting out a deep breath and glancing down at his hands, turning them back and forth as he studies them. With a sigh, he shakes his head and continues on to his and Vasquez' personal quarters, tapping the door interface as he arrives.
The door slides open to a, at first glance, dark and empty room. A basket of flowers sits on the bed with no apparent explanation. As Jason steps in he might hear a ragged sniffle from the bathroom. Vasquez is sitting on the floor in the doorway, her foot propped against the opposite doorframe to keep the door from closing. The only illumination comes from the stark white of the bathroom lights, rendering her features unclear.
Jason gives a glance around, brow furrowed as he looks about the room. He begins to reach for the light switch when the sound of Vasquez pulls his attention away. "Linda...?" he asks as he catches sight of her. His obvious immediate concern is that she's somehow been hurt and hurries towards her.
Vasquez shows no immediate sign of injury, but as Jason gets closer it becomes obvious that her eyes are reddened and raw from crying, although her cheeks are barely damp. A glance inside the bathroom reveals that the room has been quite thoroughly thrashed. The shower curtain and its bar supporting it has been ripped down, only one end hanging on by a thread to the wall anchoring, and the door to the above-sink medicine
cabinet has been torn from its hinges, and seemingly hurled into the floor, judging by the fact that the integrated mirror is shattered. Vasquez barely acknowledges Jason's presence, staring distantly ahead at the opposite doorframe. A crumpled piece of paper is clutched in one of her hands.
Jason breathes a sigh of relief upon realizing she's not injured. He takes in the sight of their wrecked bathroom before taking a position across from her, leaning a shoulder against the wall beside the bathroom door. He folds his arms across his chest and falls silent as he looks down at his fiance, unsure of what to say or do. Clearly something is bothering her. Understatement. "Yeah-..." he finally says with a sigh, "...I hated
Vasquez offers no immediate acknowledgement or reaction, not even looking Jason's way, but after a silent moment she lifts her right hand, holding the piece of paper out to Jason without comment.
Jason sucks in a deep breath and hesitates for a moment before leaning down and reaching out for the paper. He returns to his position against the wall before looking it over. His eyes scan from left to right as the source of Vasquez' current condition becomes apparent. Once finished, he folds the paper in half and falls silent once again. After a few moments, he slides into a seated position and sets the letter down beside him.
He rests his forearms against his knees and his head against the wall as he looks out over the dark room, desperately wishing the right words would enter his mind. They don't, of course. Maybe there is no 'right thing to say'. "You didn't do anything wrong, Linda." he finally offers, tilting his head to look her way.
Vasquez ' gaze briefly moves to Jason, and she stares at him in silence for a moment before closing her eyes, letting out a heavy breath and tilting her head back slightly. She opens her mouth to speak, but as no words come she shakes her head almost imperceptibly, her now-empty hand withdrawing and clenching into a fist against her side.
Jason gives a few shallow nods to himself. Pretty much the reaction he was expecting. "I'm sorry..." he says simply. He scoots a bit closer to the bathroom door and reaches out to place a hand on her leg, just a small gesture to let her know he's here for her.
Vasquez flinches when Jason's synthetic hand presses against her leg, a startled look briefly crossing her tired face as her eyes shoot open. Her expression almost immediately turns to frustration, perhaps at her own reaction, and she kicks with her booted foot hard against the doorframe. She brings a hand to her head, dragging it over her face amid mumbled, hoarse 'sorry's.
Jason brings his hand back to rest on his own leg upon Vasquez' reaction and returns to looking out at the room. "It's fine..." he says, returning to resting his head against the wall behind him. "I don't know what you want me to say, Linda. I just-... If you want to talk-..." he trails off.
Vasquez lets her hand drop to the knee of her right leg, which is pulled in close to her body. She slowly wraps both arms around her leg, once again staring ahead. Eventually her gaze moves to Jason, studying the side of his face in silence. She says nothing, just looking at him.
Jason remains in place, perfectly fine with just sitting in silence if that's what she needs right now. He stares distantly towards the window, forearms rested arop his knees as he finds himself lost in his own thoughts.
Vasquez sits in silence for some time, her gaze moving over to the bathroom tiles after a while. Eventually she swallows, trying to push back the sensation in her throat. "I need some air." she says, her voice sounding on the verge of breaking. She pushes off from the floor, immediately stumbling, looking dizzy as she rises to her feet, and she ends up having to steady herself against the doorframe.
Jason glances her way. Initially he seems to have no intention of following. With everything going on if she needs some space then he'll give her space. It's not until she begins looking unstable that he presses a hand against the wall and climbs to his feet. "Maybe just-..." he begins, quickly moving to her side and wrapping an arm around her waist, "...take a minute, yeah? Come on. Take a seat and I'll get you a glass of water."
Vasquez tenses up, but fights off her initial urge to brush Jason off. She gives a faint nod, and heads towards the bed at his urging, closing her eyes briefly and contorting her face as she tries to clear her head. She takes a seat on the edge, letting go of Jason to bury her face in her hands.
Jason helps her onto the edge of the bed before taking a step back. He looks her over for a moment before disappearing into the bathroom. The sound of broken glass crunching underfoot can be heard followed by the sink turning on. Jason reappears shortly after holding the glass kept by the bathroom sink filled with water. Rather than giving it to her, he simply sets it on the floor beside her and takes a seat next to her. "...Talk
Vasquez runs her hands through her hair, drawing in a deep breath and opening her eyes. She reaches down for the glass of water, slowly bringing it up to her lips and taking a sip before resting the glass in her lap, looking down at it. "I don't know how she got this here." she says, sucking on her lips as she lifts her gaze to look out across the room, fixating on the door holo-panel glowing in the dark.
Jason furrows his brow. It takes him a moment to get the implication. His gaze drifts to the basket of flowers nearby. "Here here?" he asks. It was something he hadn't even considered. He just assumed they were dropped off. "You mean-..." his gaze drifts back to Vasquez, "...you found them in here...?"
Jason brings a hand to his forehead and runs it through his hair. He removes the towel from his shoulder and sets it aside. "Fuck..." he mutters.
Vasquez nods once more. "Yeah..." She takes another sip of water, brushing some loose bangs from her face. "Do you think she was... here?"
Jason glances at the basket once more before giving a sigh. "I don't know. Does it matter...? Her. Someone working for her. What's the difference?" he asks, looking back to her to read her reaction.
Vasquez looks towards Jason with a scowl, but it fades quickly and she sighs. "I don't-... I don't know." She puts the glass down, cradling her head in her hands once more, fingers rubbing against her temples. "Why is this-... why does she have to-..."
Jason scoots a bit closer and places a hand on her back, gently caressing her lower back. "I don't know..." he sighs, pained just to see her in this state. "Because she made some fucked up decisions? Because she continues to?" he adds, passing another glance towards the basket. He winces, realizing that's not what she needs to hear right now. It doesn't matter. "...But it seems pretty damn clear to me that she loves you.
Whatever that's worth..." he continues, "I don't-... I don't know what that means. Or if it means anything but-..." he trails off, giving another frustrated sigh at his own inability to comfort her.
Vasquez bites her lower lip. She can't muster the energy to spit out the vile words that first come to her mind, and instead she lets out a heavysigh, hands dropping to between her knees as she allows her head to fall, eyes remaining closed and hair obscuring her face. "It's still her. I don't-... was she always-...? I don't understand. I don't understand..." Her voice is hoarse, and her tone tired, almost desparate. She
Jason gives a short nod. "Wish I had some answers for you, Linda. But I don't." he admits. "What I can say is that I learned early on that parents aren't perfect. Sometimes they let you down. Make shitty fucking choices. Leave you to clean up their mess. It took me a long time to come to terms with that. Hell, I'm still not sure if I have..." He trails off for a moment, taking his time to choose his words carefully. "...And
maybe-... That's why I was so worried about you. About making amends with her. After what she's put us through-... what her people have put us through, there's no love lost there. Not for her. None." he sighs, sliding his hand around her waist until it comes to a rest on her side. "I just-... It's easy to let frustration and anger cloud your judgement. I wanted to make sure you were making your decision for the right
Vasquez slowly shifts, removing her already-unlaced boots - it seems she was in the process of taking them off at some point. She lifts her legs into the bed and lies down, bringing her head to rest in Jason's lap and curling up. It's a slow and somewhat awkward process, and she doesn't say a word.
Jason places one hand on her side and goes to rub the top of her head with the other, but when he catches sight of the prosthetic, he decides otherwise, doubting it would provide her much comfort anyway. Maybe the opposite. "...How does everything always manage to get so fucked up for us?" he asks with a sigh.
Vasquez takes a couple of deep breaths in silence, resting her left hand in front of her, on Jason's leg, as she does her best to let his presence calm her. "I think the universe hates us." she sighs, a sad, exhausted hint of a laugh following, although it dies quickly. "It's-... it isn't fair."
Jason gives a humorless snicker of his own. "Well, then the universe can go fuck itself." he says. He looks back across the room towards the letter. The promise to stay away. Regardless of his personal feelings towards whether or not Linda should make amends with her mother, he can't help but wonder if her assurance to stay away extended to those she worked with. He tries to put that thought out of his mind for now. "Doesn't
matter. We've got everything we need right here, so it can keep sending whatever it wants our way." he assures his wife-to-be, running his hand from her side to her stomach.
Vasquez gains a brief, faint smile, and her left hand joins Jason's as she takes another long breath. For the moment she's content to just lie there. Her thoughts inevitably dwell on the letter. On her mother. But she has little desire to discuss it, even with Jason. She's far too drained, and there's little to be said. Right now his presence is all that matters.